V’LANDYS IN THE HOT SEAT AGAIN!
V’landys is trying to pass himself off as someone who is a defender and protector of horses – pay close attention to his body language when he states race horses are not destroyed. He’s lashing out at those who are part of a Parliamentary Inquiry INCLUDING others like himself who are involved in the horse racing industry.
A BIT OF HISTORY & WHO IS V’LANDYS?
Peter V’landys is an Australian horse racing and rugby league administrator. He is the chief executive and a board member of Racing New South Wales (Racing NSW) as well as the chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission.
REMEMBER HIM FROM ‘THE FINAL RACE’ EXPOSE?
ABC’s 730 whistleblowing investigation was titled “The dark side of the horse racing industry – a special investigation into the racing industry reveals what really goes on when racehorses’ lives end in knackeries and abattoirs, The Final Race horse racing industry’s failure to protect retired horses from mass slaughter”. (You can watch ‘The Final Race’ here.)
Following a two-year special investigation into the horse racing industry footage showed horses being beaten, kicked and shocked with electric prods while they lay dying in abattoirs and it raised more than a few questions about the horse racing industry’s so-called rehoming programs for racehorses.
The ABC’s 7.30 program uncovered alleged acts of animal cruelty on a mass scale, with allegations thousands of Australian racehorses being sent to be killed for their meat.
V’landys said he was “unaware” of any NSW racehorses being sent to an abattoir or knackery, including slaughterhouses in NSW and interstate.
(Yes, really! Some call him a bold faced liar!)
V’LANDY’S SUED ABC – CASE WAS DISMISSED!
V’landys sued the ABC for defamation. His lawsuit was dismissed in 2021 by Federal Court Justice Michael Wigney.
V’landys appealed but in 2023 the Federal Court upheld Justice Wigney’s decision, ordering V’landys to pay the ABC’s legal costs.
WHY IS V’LANDYS FACING SCRUTINY AGAIN?
THE STRAIGHT: Fundamental to any idea of constructing a 25,000-dwelling suburb where Rosehill lies is if the site itself is suitable for such a development. Before you even get to that you have to come to an agreed, improved value. This varied between $1.6 billion and $23 billion at the hearing.
Australian Turf Club chairman Peter McGauran said a valuation of current zoning would be $1.6 billion and that the mooted $5 billion put forward by consultants MostynCopper would depend on rezoning and a metro station. Pressed further on that value McGauran said: “I’m yet to find any valuer or large-scale experienced property developer who disagrees with $5 billion.”
Later in that second session, Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys said the project’s current valuation was $23 billion, which would be realised over 30 years.
REMEMBER WE SAID THE RACING INDUSTRY IS TURNING ON ITS OWN?
What followed was according to the THE STRAIGHT the most contentious aspect of the entire hearing. It came on the Committee’s agenda from the first witness, when Gai Waterhouse questioned the regulator’s involvement in the project and the tenure of [Horseracing NSW’s] CEO V’landys.
THE STRAIGHT continues: The phrase ‘Racing NSW’ featured 135 times in the first hearing and then 153 times in the second and 80 in the third. The word ‘V’landys’ was featured 24,244, and 15 times, respectively.
V’landys became the central character of an action-packed second act of the public hearings, using his time in front of the Committee to suggest “wealthy breeders” were conspiring against him.
[MOHM: Is the racing industry in turmoil? You be the judge. Keep in mind that V’landys is the chief executive and a board member of Racing New South Wales and he is attacking “wealthy breeders” and… ]
He also labelled his critics as “cheats, liars, undesirables and cowards” and had a terse exchange with Independent MP Mark Latham.
#MOHM NEEDS YOUR HELP!
We’ve been threatened by those in the horse racing industry and those who benefit from horse slaughter more times than we can count.
But we are not going away.
We are going to persist until horse slaughter no longer exists for any purpose within Australia -- and until the horse racing industry makes drastic changes.
We are going to continue our hands-on work to offer lifelong sanctuary to as many horses as possible. We generally have 20 at just one of our locations - at any given time.
We have the acreage to take on more horses as financial support allows.
WHATABOUTISM
BRUMBY ADVOCATES WE LOVE YOU BUT...According to Wikipedia "Whataboutism" or "whataboutery" (as in "what about...?") is a pejorative for the strategy of responding to an accusation with a counter-accusation instead of a defense against the original accusation.At Meet...
MAKYBE DIVA STAKES
BACK YARD BREEDERS OFTEN BLAMEDTime and again we hear those who support horse racing and those directly involved in the industry claim that backyard breeders are to blame for the large number of horses slaughtered annually in Australia. This claim is used not just...
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